A Constant State of Perplexion

I decided to wait a full day before writing a critical review on this
movie to let my emotions die down - In conclusion i have nothing but
praise for this movie.

If your goal is to walk into this movie and be psychologically
challenged or expect great dialogue you will be disappointed. There are
some movies that you need to walk into and know little of what will
unfold to get the full cinematic experience. I always check the ratings
of movies on IMDb before considering watching them and after reading
some of the other user reviews on 'high octane' intensity and non stop
fight scenes i in the least expected some good action in this movie.
Even with that though i thought an entire movie could not be based on
fighting scenes and score above an 8 on IMDb (boy was i wrong).

This movie is earning glowing reviews because of the action sequences
filmed in the movie that place you in a cinematic experience where you
actually feel like you are watching real men fight for their lives.
It's nothing poetic with backflips and flexible positions but simply
man vs man often equipping anything in the room to disarm/disable and
kill their opponent. It places you in the hot seat viewing the closest
things to actual killings - Now this isn't to say the movie slows down
on blood spurts or zooms in when someone is getting their throat sliced
- it simply shows it how it is, it's fast, real and intense.

In some of the other reviews you hear fans praising the knife fighting
scenes. This movie was incredible with it's knife fights and how
effective and swift they are in close quarters. The finish was always
swiftly at the throat but that wasn't before 2 to 3 lightning touches
to the chest/quads or arms to disable an opponent or render them
shocked in pain.

Heres the bottom line: This movie was made on the smallest budget i've
ever seen for any movie to hit international screens. The director and
all actors are no names that you have never heard however i guarantee
that you will never watch another action film again because the raid is
groundbreaking in it's reality/intensity and quality of choreography.

Every movie that scores high ratings appeals to a certain group of
audiences. This is a very specific movie but is well deserving of the
praise it is receiving from our users at IMDb. It is my hope to see
more of this action from the director and actors cause i honestly don't
think i can ever watch a fighting movie again.

MUST WATCH 10/10 Excellent.

Was the above review useful to you?

273 out of 311 people found the following review useful:

Non-Stop Crowd Pleaser

The Raid, a new non-stop cornucopia action film, comes from the most
unlikely of sources  Indonesia. But don't let the country of origin
fool you. The Raid is jam packed with some of the best action sequences
we've seen in years and audiences are sure to walk away with an
adrenaline rush punch to the gut that far exceeds their forked (over)
entertainment dollar.

Starring a bunch of actors we can guarantee you have never heard of and
written and directed by Gareth Evans (another name you are surely not
to recognize), The Raid offers big time action sequences chalked full
of gunfights, knife fights and enough hand-to-hand combat to rival any
movie in recent memory.

The idea behind The Raid is remedial. A group of well armed police
officers enter a 15-story apartment complex overflowing with a group of
better armed drug dealers and bad guys intent on holding their ground.
The police are lead by an over anxious Lieutenant who leads his squad
of mostly rookies into the apartment complex where they are quickly
over matched and out gunned. Their objective is to find the drug lord
who resides on the 15th floor and bring him to justice. Easier said
than done.

Bodies on both sides of battle fall to the ground like rounds from a
Gatling gun in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. The police  those that
survived the opening shootout  are split into two groups with Jaka
(Joe Taslim) fighting alongside the Lieutenant and a rookie officer,
and Rama (Iko Uwais) who tries to protect an injured officer while
battling the hordes of oncoming baddies.

What ensues over the course of the next 80-minutes is a rip-roarin'
blast of gratuitous bloodletting. The gun battles are more intense than
the bank robbery scene in Michael Mann's Heat, the apartment hallway
battles make the scene in Oldboy look like a Pixar film and the cops
are as overmatched as U.S. Army Rangers were against an entire Somalian
town Black Hawk Down.

Director Gareth Evans clearly wants you to leave your brains at the
door and celebrate in violent beatings and fight sequences that were
stylishly choreographed and continue with such relentless regularity
that you almost want to pause the projector to catch your breath before
the next group of bare-fisted bruisers hit the screen. Our two main
leads take more body blows than John McClane did in all four Die Hard
films and their resilience and ability to be beaten to a pulp and yet
have the ability and the strength to continue fighting is beyond this
reviewer's comprehension.

If there was but one small issue we had with the film it was that
everyone who lived in the apartment complex had the fighting skills of
an UFC righter or karate expert. Young, small, big or tall, they hall
knew how to deliver a multiple high-kicks or at least take one and get
right back up for more.

There is a small twist in the film that is clearly evident a reel
before the actual reveal on screen, but it hardly takes away from the
fun filled excitement leading up to the plot turn.

The sum of all its parts makes The Raid a must-see for anyone
appreciative of non-stop battles where machetes are luxury and where a
broken fluorescent tube can send a packed theatre into jubilant
applause. It may lack the sophistication of The Departed, but it
catered to an audience that couldn't get enough by the half-way mark
and then was left gasping for air like a prized fighter in the 12th
round towards its conclusion.

www.killerreviews.com

Was the above review useful to you?

285 out of 362 people found the following review useful:

After watching this movie, I found myself lost my appetite to other action movies. For me, other action movies was a snack

My number one list action movie is The Matrix because it balanced the
depth of the story with the action. Somewhere among the top list, there
was also The Dark Knight for the same reason. However, when speaking
only 'action', I used to choose a Hongkong movie, Flashpoint, starred
by Donnie Yen. Before Flashpoint, I'll choose a Thailand movie, Ong Bak
which launched Tony Jaa career internationally. Now, when I speak an
action movie that speak for the action, I will choose an Indonesia
movie, 'THE RAID', choreographed by Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhiyan and
starred by them.

The problem with Donnie Yen's Flashpoint was you need to wait about one
hour and fifteen minutes to get the action really start but when it
started, it was really worth to wait. The fight between Donnie Yen and
Collin Chou, inspired by MMA especially BJJ was so well choreographed
and made audience hold their breath and asking "are this sh*t a real
thing?". In Evans' latest, THE RAID, you won't need those one hour and
fifteen minutes because he already made the audience gasps in the first
fifteen minutes.

I wouldn't say a thing about Ong Bak because in my opinion, Merantau
was more superior than Ong Bak. The problem with Merantau was Gareth
was trying to bring audience to understand the culture of Silat first
because showing the full action.You can said, Merantau was like
Yamakasi doing for parkour while The Raid was the B-13 of silat.

It is useless to review this movie from the plot because there wasn't
any significant plot. The plot was made only to bridge between one
action scene to other action scene. But d*mn! Even with the weak dialog
and cliché plot, Gareth executed it well so we, the audience, didn't
have time to analyze this or that. What we know, we were flooded by
f*cking awesome action movies from infiltration scene, massacre scene,
and of course, martial art scenes when the characters have run out of
bullets.

I remember when one of Merantau review said Merantau was Ong Bak when
handled professionally. The same can be said with THE RAID. The Raid
was Flashpoint with larger actions and handled professionally from the
music, cinematography, and even the visual effect.

The music composed by Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal was like a
combination between Hans Zimmer's Joker theme and Rage Against The
Machine. It brought the audience immediately to the brutal tone of the
movie. In some scenes, those music suddenly disappeared, leaving
uneasiness to the audience. I wonder how Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park
will interpret the scene to his score because Prayogi and Yuskemal
score was perfect for the tone of this movie and it was really
different with any Linkin Park score.

The sound effect, oh my, I hardly believe this is Indonesian movie.
Even Hongkong movies are rarely have this good sound effect, You can
differentiate between the bullet shot next to you to the bullet shot
from the next room, The sound of knife slashing was so beautiful to
listen and combined by the beautiful art of Silat, the scene was a
masterpiece of a brutal dance of angel of death.

THE RAID has little visual effect but when they did, it was done
amazingly and effectively. Frankly, prior to watch this movie, I was a
little bit disappointed when I heard there will be slow-motion scene in
the movie. However, Gareth proved me wrong. He was not Zack Snyder. The
slow-motion was done only in one scene and perfectly executed which I
hardly imagined how it should be done in other way.

Matt Flanery and Dimas Subhono as DOP played camera creatively and yet
it captured all the motion perfectly. In fact, some scenes was like a
scene taken from art movie due to their creative angle but it didn't
reduce the brutal tone of the movie, didn't make the impact of every
punch and kick weaker, in fact, in some scenes, it enhanced the "BAM!"
factor.

The choreography was the factor which made this movie popular. I have
said previously that even the fight scene between Donnie Yen and Collin
Chou in Flashpoint had been surpassed by almost every fight scene in
the movie. In Merantau, Gareth didn't want to show the brutal image of
silat due to the main character of that movie was a naive and kind
young man from village. In this movie, the characters are cops and bad
guy, so either be killed or kill. Both Iko and Yayan have choreographed
it so well so even one reviewer said "I didn't know there was so many
ways to kill people until I saw this movie" and he was right. Jeff
Imada (Bourne Identity) and Yuen Woo Ping will recognize these people
from Indonesia and you'll probably hear about them in coming years
among the top list of fight choreographer.

After watching this movie, I found myself lost my appetite to other
action movies. For me, other action movies was a snack before I can
watch the next Gareth Evans project, BERANDAL.

- Kunderemp -

Was the above review useful to you?

180 out of 223 people found the following review useful:

The "Star Wars" of action movie

I think other reviewers have explained the film quite detail so I only
write about the experience I get over this film.

The background story is about a SWAT team trying to bring a ruthless
and untouchable crime lord to justice. However this film is only
focusing on a specific event in that story : THE RAID part - that turns
into a brutal, and bloody survival game. It's become a final match or
showdown between good vs bad guys. And you should see it that way if
you want to really enjoy it.

We don't watch a final sport's match, any soccer, football, MMA fight
etc looking for the plot, do we? We come because we want a great show,
excellent executions and brutal take down, and any other things that
could rush our adrenalin to the max. So forget about the plot!

We enter the building along with the good guys. We scream, yell, jump
etc every time they score, though some bad guys are so nasty that they
also caught our attention. We are scared, worried, angry when their
luck runs out. Our heart is pounding when we know exactly or we think
they're entering a deadly situations. We hold our breath on some very
tense moments (and this film has quite a lot of it), even feel their
pain. In the end we go home feel that we're just attending a good.
exciting and satisfying game - which we want to see it again and again
if we can, and the good thing is, we certainly can.

The combination of the cinematography, choreography, shot's angles, the
original score (I'm curious how Mike Shinoda will outperform an already
good score), effects and the editing are so perfect as if you're there.
And if you think the trailer is cool, it's just a tip on the ocean's
surface from an enormous iceberg below. The film itself is super-super
cool!

100 mins flies so fast and when the credit rolls, I still sit there,
thinking if I could catch the next show - which sadly impossible
because the ticket has sold out in minutes, several days before.

Of course, The Raid is not without flaws. The acting, the dialogs, the
CGI, the twist - you know - those usual unconvincing stuff which you
can find even in some blockbuster martial arts/action movies, can be
improved. But overall it is a superb action movie so I understand the
high-praised comments from those film festivals.

Now, you may wonder why I compare it to Star Wars. Back then, when I
first saw Star Wars, I was very amazed not by the story, plots or the
acting, but by the cinematography, special effects, the laser saber
duel, the sound effects, the robots, all those hi-tech stuff which are
so an eye opener that we have no choice to compare the next sci-fi
movies with it.

The Raid does the same thing for action genre. And I will be waiting
eagerly for the sequels or even the prequels just like Star Wars.

This film is best seen with your group of friends who enjoy hardcore
and bloody fights, so you can cheer, scream, yell, sigh together and
talk about it (and probably count how many ways to die/kill people in
this film) on the way home. Go to toilet before the shows so you don't
miss any scenes. Snacks and drinks could be considered as 'nice to
have' items. I was seating on the edge of my seat and my eyes were
glued to the screen almost all the time that I only sip my drink once
in the first 10 minutes and haven't touch my snack until the credit
rolls.

9.5 out of 10! Sorry for my English.

Was the above review useful to you?

151 out of 170 people found the following review useful:

Possibly the best martial arts film I've seen

After seeing the trailer, I knew I had to see this movie. Rarely our my
high expectation met but The Raid surpassed it. If your seeing this
movie, it's because you want to see action and The Raid hit every mark.
The action is a mix of shootouts, hand to hand weapons, and mostly good
ol' fashioned fists.

The Raid proves again how far behind American action films are. I've
seen other great foreign action films like Ong-Bak, The Protector, and
Ip man but The Raid surpasses them by highlighting a martial art style
not shown in any recent films. Its brutal and never lets up. It's not
your typical ultra clean fighting that has been done to death but
something that looks real and desperate at times as people try to
survive outnumbered.

Story wise it isn't anything great but at the same time it's better
than most martial arts films due to interesting twists and being
incredibly well paced to before you know it its over and you want more.

If your a fan of action films, there isn't any better out there now or
any even close in decades past.

Was the above review useful to you?

159 out of 200 people found the following review useful:

Just when you thought the book couldn't be rewritten . . .

NOTE: Early, gushing reviews from TIFF Midnight Madness presentations
should not generally be trusted, as many fest-goers are unable to
separate the film from the experience, and formal critical consensus
often sends most Midnight films into obscurity. Thankfully, THE RAID
earns its stripes and deserves its praise, and stands firmly above the
typically overeager reactions heaped on many other films screened in
the Midnight program this year and in years past.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the future, when someone tells you a movie is wall-to-wall martial
arts and gunplay, you should have no choice but to ask them how it
rates against this picture, which has so much gunfire and brutal
martial arts action -- all of it meticulously choreographed in ways
more refreshing than I'd ever have thought possible in this world of
peak-performance Donnie Yens and Tony Jaas -- that I very nearly lost
the hearing in my right ear, in no small part thanks to the tendency of
TIFF sluggos to mistake volume for quality when adjusting their sound
levels in an aged, less-than--acoustically-ideal theatre.

Star Iko Uwais is the real deal: wiry, lightning-fast and evidently the
leader of a team of experts that truly takes martial arts choreography
into new territory with this film (and, to a lesser extent, MERENTAU
before it). If there's a downside to his inevitable celebrity because
of this film, it's that Indonesian cinema in general will fare no
better than Thai cinema has in the wake of Tony Jaa. Like Jaa, anything
Uwais makes from this film on -- especially if he keeps teaming with
writer-director Gareth Evans, as he should for at least a couple more
pictures -- will gain instant and welcome interest from the west, while
the rest of Indonesian cinema (such as it is!) will remain the domain
of low-brow entertainment that caters largely to the locals, with the
exception of the occasional horror movie that can be scooped up for
exploitation by "Asian Extreme" DVD labels and streams in the U.S. and
Europe.

What really separates this picture from the hordes of martial arts
films from the region is its heavy use of Silat, the native martial art
of Indonesia. I've seen a billion martial arts pictures over the years,
and a million "styles" to go with them, but I'll admit my knowledge of
Silat was absolute zero, and this movie turned out to be a wonderful
wakeup call.

The key thing about Silat is that it involves knives, lots of 'em, and
the film's heroes and villains deploy them with extreme prejudice for
almost the entire duration. One stab won't do, but ten capped off by a
throat slashing is a good way to gauge whether you've won the battle.

By way of example, picture the exemplary alley-fight-with-sharp-weapons
between Donnie Yen and Jackie Wu Jing in SPL (a personal favourite
sequence). Now, double the speed (!), and make the ultimate goal to
stab, slice or otherwise eviscerate your opponent into oblivion, and
you've got most of the hand-to-hand combat in THE RAID. Hero cop Uwais
has this neat little trick where he stabs a long blade deep into your
upper thigh, then yanks it clean down to your kneecap. Ouch! This thing
is bloody with a capital B, but it's so exceptionally well
choreographed, photographed and edited that you never lose sight of the
geography surrounding the combatants or feel like you've missed a
single blow or puncture as each new pair (or group!) of fighters grinds
each other down.

Evans' editing in particular is a standout, and rather refreshingly, it
isn't used to hide little bits of phony business or make the fight
participants look more skilled than they really are, such as it often
is in so many action pictures these days (both in western, and, sadly,
many Asian cinemas; Legend of the Fist, I'm looking at you). Evans'
performers know their stuff, and his editing does more showing than
telling.

As to the picture as a whole, if you thought the final 40 minutes of
John Woo's HARD BOILED were collectively one of the greatest pieces of
action cinema from anywhere ever, imagine that cinematic Nirvana
expanded to feature length, and with virtually no fat. The movie starts
with a team of elite cops attempting to covertly secure a maze-like
high-rise slum apartment building run by a merciless drug lord (when we
first meet him, he's executing five bound and gagged men in his office,
but he runs out of bullets for the fifth guy, which causes him to
casually grab a hammer out of his desk drawer . . . ). Within minutes,
though, his goons -- who populate every floor of the building like
cockroaches, fight like rabid dogs and spontaneously appear around
every corner and out of every doorway -- turn the tables and wipe out
most of the fleet in a monster battle of guns, fists, feet and the
ubiquitous knives, trapping just a precious few of our heroes on the
sixth and seventh floors with little hope of escape.

Aside from a couple of quiet moments where allegiances on both sides of
the field shift, not unexpectedly, that's pretty much it in terms of
plot, and it obvious the filmmakers would have it no other way. This is
a showcase, for Silat, for Indonesia and for Iko Uwais, who is very
much the "next Tony Jaa" (as I'm sure he'll be labeled far and wide),
for better and, somewhat regrettably, for worse in terms of his
country's film industry, for he may very well come to single-handedly
represent it around the globe. Not that I'm complaining after having
been winded by such an audacious effort as THE RAID.

Barry Prima who?

Was the above review useful to you?

98 out of 116 people found the following review useful:

Minimal plot, intense action

OK, let me start by praising Iko Uwais. Of all the actors, this guy
fits the character flawlessly and is a highly likable actor. I thought
I'd root for Joe Taslim (Jaka) better because of his better looks and
taller figure but Iko is perfect.

The movie in terms of story: interesting. The premise is very simple, a
bunch of cops trapped in a hellish building filled with the devil's men
who knows silat and dead set on killing the cops. However, I can't
really tell whats going to happen next, and there's enough twists that
actually works, even if they were rather cliché (the rookie, the
corrupt officers, the help from a friendly neighbor, the .. i should
stop.. or i'd spoil the movie). There's nothing new in terms of plot,
but that's not really a big problem. I sure do hope Gareth can find
better writers to write the story next time.

What I do like is the pacing. It goes boom boom boom boom! and then it
rests a bit before going into suspense mode, scary mode, and then boom
some more.

Line delivery? Not very good. Some lines were obviously translated from
English (it's written by Gareth himself) and some sounds quite cheesy
(overused in other movies), like A: "Why us? why now?" B: "Why not?" Or
"I need to get in, my wife is sick" And a bunch of others..

Secondly, some of them are not professional actors and as an Indonesian
watching an Indonesian movie without subtitles, I couldn't catch most
of the things they said! I wished there were subtitles!! I wished there
were Indonesian or English subtitles so that the foreigners in indo can
enjoy the movie as well! (although there's one guy with a manado accent
who talks funny, obviously a joke which will not be noticed by
foreigners) They either talked really quickly, or had poor
articulation/enunciation that I couldn't hear what they said and had to
ask my sister, who also didn't catch what they said, and had to ask her
boyfriend. The only one actor whom I can hear clearly even when talking
fast is the gang boss (Ray Sahetapi).. A veteran actor, obviously
trained for acting.

By the end of the movie we also concluded that the Indonesian
vocabulary in terms of curse words is so very limited. The word
"anjing!" (means "dog") is used over and over, by everybody.. And the
word "bangsat" (a bedbug) a few times.. "Babi" (pig) once, "kampret" (a
small bat) once... They all basically means the same thing "Bastard"...
So, this either means we are a really polite culture.. Or that they're
trying to avoid censor.. Or that the translator for gareth's script has
not enough vocabulary list... or maybe I really didn't get the badness
of those animal curse words..

I mean I can think of many English curse words that is not too dirty..
Like.. Scum, filth, bastard, jerk, son-of-a...., prick, damn, what the
heck, slime.. OK I don't really know how to translate those words into
spoken Indonesian either so...

The fights were great. I can't comment on the choreography because I'm
not a professional, but it puts you on the edge of your seat, so I
think that speaks for itself. They hit hard, they fall hard, they kill
hard, they die hard. I thought that some fights could be sped up a bit,
as some moves looks like it lags a bit in terms of syncing, but only by
a bit. If not, it adds a real touch to the physicality of the movie.

Most of the girls shrieked and made wriggling sounds during fight
sequences (yes, one really shrieked out loud), and many sighed a
relief, almost awkward laugh, when those fight sequences end. Which, in
my opinion, means that the fights were a great success.

As an animator I felt the CG was a bit...hmmm... CG blood is slightly
overused, but still acceptable, but one shot stuck out like a sore
finger to me, the one where one guy falls over and lands on a balcony
ledge. I really wanted to fix that animation.. Hahahaa... But again,
that's because I'm a trained animator, as other people in the cinema
gasped in their seats thinking that was real etc.

All I know is, it lived up to my expectations (a minimal story fight
movie). I look forward to Iko, Yayan, and Gareth's next collaboration,
which is this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0hYVksfyrQ Again, if
you're an action movie fans, you'd probably like it.

Was the above review useful to you?

98 out of 129 people found the following review useful:

Top of The Class. Great Movie, Great job!

High Rating and Awards? People may be tricked for the first time
because this movie comes from a very unusual country, Indonesia. It's
not often we see action movie comes from this country. Furthermore, the
casts also aren't well-known at all in the world but guess what,
they're really giving a great show in this movie. Gareth Evans, a Welsh
born writer/director/editor repeat his success creating action movie
after several years ago releasing another action movie also made in
Indonesia.

For me, the real superstar in this movie is Rama (Iko Uwais), who was
introduced as a newbie special force in the team. Fantastic martial art
movements, which is traditional martial art called Pencak Silat from
Indonesia truly filled this movie with wowing watcher's experience.
Fast moves, intense close combat and his knife play in combat
successfully increased my adrenalin. The best part of Iko was when He's
about to face several people alone in a hallway. That was obviously
cool. I think Iko plays the part like Jason Statham (fighting) and
Steven Seagal (with his knife) but only better. The Raid was rained
with bloodbath. So it's wise to avoid bringing children to watch this
movie.

The other character that stole my attention was this man called Mad Dog
(Yayan Ruhian). In my opinion, it'll be difficult to find this kind of
man in this world. His expression and fighting style was stunning.

When I watch movies, I always intensely wait for the twists. The Raid
doesn't give so many twists but it still has enough twist that improve
the story. Still this is a nicely written story. Simple idea but
creatively developed.

At first, I thought it'll be a one man show where Rama played the whole
part of fighting till the end. But I was wrong. The Raid gives fair
proportion to fighters in this movie. Rama isn't the only one that
showed a great fight against the enemy in this movie. There're the
sarge, Andi, the last cop in control room. The only thing that
disturbed me a little bit is the original dialog which is Indonesian. I
don't know but it's kinda awkward for me to hear the conversation in
Indonesian although it's my native language. As I imagine, it may
sounds better in English. Never mind, it's just me.

With only 1.1 million spent on this action movie, surprisingly give me
such a great experience in cinema. Great movie. Great job!

9/10

Was the above review useful to you?

90 out of 127 people found the following review useful:

The Indonesians Are On A "Mission"

Surely I was lucky enough being chosen by Indonesia International
Fantastic Film Festival (iNAFFF) committee as one of local
movie-reviewers to see it on the big screen as a closing movie last
fall. Yes, The Raid from Merantau Films and XYZ Films has become global
most-awaited action movie after won Midnight Madness Award on 2011
Toronto International Film Festival. Afterwards, Sony Pictures called
for a Hollywood remake after got the rights for international release
first including U.S. market on March 23, 2012 - same date for hometown
release.

An elite group of SWAT police officers receive a very difficult task,
invade an apartment building that has been taken over by large network
of dangerous criminals led by Tama. The chief Jaka with two of his
reliable members, Rama and Andi moves one level to another, only to see
their best plans being sidelined. Yet character revelations start
bubbling to surface which should be done by a series of immense fights
using guns, knives or even bare fists. Who will be the last man
standing with less victims on his side?

Director Gareth Evans continue his success from Merantau (2009) by
upping the intensity in such bigger way. The location itself creates
some unintentional claustrophobic atmosphere to make sure those cat and
mouse fights have really nowhere to hide. Shaky-cam and quick cuts are
used perfectly to maximize viewers' involvement into dynamic sense of
rhythm. So, you feel like capture those moments with your own taste
before transform 'em all into some certain reactions like grasp,
goosebumps etc.

Jakarta born, Iko Uwais clearly made the most gigantic impact with his
extraordinary fighting skills on display which known as Pencak Silat,
our very own traditional martial-art. Yeah, you might compare him with
Thai's Tony Jaa from Ong Bak. Combined with cold-blooded Donny
Alamsyah, the duo are serious combo to beat. High-experienced actor,
Ray Sahetapy also nailed his role as a super villain Tama with slick
face expressions and dreadful voice tones. Another name who stole the
show is Yayan Ruhian whose crazy act as Mad Dog might be remembered by
the fans of the movie for a long time.

Violence is definitely an issue here, so it couldn't avoid to be rated
R. Bath blood between one-on-one or group combatants are everywhere in
the building. Sometimes you just don't see it clearly in front of your
eyes because flashy editing from Evans are smart enough to present what
should be seen or not without losing any meaning of it. "Hardcore"
music scoring from Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal successfully brought
the audience into silent mode for most of 101 minutes intriguing action
with less predictable twists along the way.

Even though the budget is fair low, approximately $1,1 million, it is
effectively spent into every department of the movie. Basic storyline,
however, outplayed by convincing choreography from the casts. The Raid
is a non-stop action from start to finish, let the final battle alone
is near flawless. Absolutely impressive to keep audiences on the edge
of their seats, even still breathless when the credit titles rolling. A
must-see in the cinema to feel some rare "vibrant" experiences.
Respectful Evans has deliberately sent the message towards
international viewers that lesser-known Indonesian movie industry is
about to change in the next few years.

http://databasefilm.blogspot.com

Was the above review useful to you?

29 out of 36 people found the following review useful:

"Black Hawk Down" meets Asian Extreme Action

Increasingly now, foreign filmmakers are making better Hollywood action
movies than Hollywood is. In this case an English director who
evidently now works in Indonesia seems to have mastered all the action
story tenets despite this being only his 3rd feature film. Even more,
the number of layers to this story parallels the number of floors in
the apartment building that is at the centre of this film. All I could
think of is how Hollywood will eventually commandeer this film and make
a lifeless by-the-numbers knock-off that will only stain the original.
And of course, the budget of the original is about the same as a
Hollywood B-list movie actor's salary.

This film is a disciple of the Asian extreme action genre, with
over-the-top karate and acrobatics mixed with guns and violence.
Betrayal isn't just a plot twist in these films, it's the first act. At
least 5 or 6 betrayals are expected in these type of films where
thieves betray other thieves, cops betray other cops, and honest guys
get betrayed by best friends. What makes this film a standout is the
unflinching action and well choreographed fight sequences by leads
Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais. Early Jackie Chan movies got this kind of
notice overseas because of their energy and gifted action instincts.
Here, Gareth Evans is a one man powerhouse writer, director, and
editor, masterminding this intricate chess match of good guys trapped
on the sixth floor, with angry thugs coming up from the fifth floor and
determined killers descending from the seventh floor. You feel our
heroes feel trapped and vulnerable. Evans finds sources of tension from
many places. The apartment building has tenants with unknown loyalties.
The man heading the raid has unknown motives. Each character is well
established with a minimum amount of screen time, keeping the action
going.

I was urged by a movie reviewer to see this film, describing it as one
of the best action movies ever made. And you have to agree, this film,
after providing a few minutes of backstory, takes off straight into the
police raid of the apartment building filled with bad guys and a gang
lord. Cinematography takes lessons from "Saving Private Ryan", using
hand-held documentary style footage during firefights, and blasting the
soundtrack with dozens of loud guns firing at once. The pulsing
synthesiser score also hits with the punchy music stabs that propel the
momentum as the police troops make their way up to the big bad guy on
the top floor.

Action sequences are creative and provide new angles and fight tactics
that keep the hand-to-hand combat kinetic. Fans of the Bourne movies
are encouraged to seek this out. (Not a coincidence that a Bourne
Legacy trailer played before this showing). Many human moments also
ground this film. An innocent man caught in the crossfire, gets asked
to risk his life. A police squad leader who gets frustrated when the
man conducting the raid puts his troops at risk. A child hired as
lookout for the gang lord must die in order to prevent him from
sounding the alarm.

There is an intensity to this film that resembles scenes from "Black
Hawk Down", with very intelligent setups for conflict, and innovative
approaches to getting from point A to point B. This fresh drive,
propelled by good guy Iko Uwais makes this 1 hour 40 minute film zip
along with no time out to catch your breath. The fact this film is
subtitled will prevent it from being a widespread hit, although it will
no doubt have a long life on DVD. Instead, I expect director Gareth
Evans to be directing movies with 150 times the budget of this small
gem within a very short time.